NIC bonding with SLES 9 fails to initialize properly after server restart

  • 3244374
  • 19-Feb-2007
  • 30-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
Novell Open Enterprise Server (Linux based)
Dual Broadcomm NICs

Situation

ERROR: Could not get an interface for slave device 'bus-pci-xxxx:xx:xx.x' during system startup.
NIC bonding works correctly, but the network is not initialized properly after a server restart.'rcnetwork restart` must be manually issued to enable bonded network devices.


Enable NIC bonding (teaming) with SLES 9


Resolution

To configure NIC bonding, follow the SUSE guide: https://support.novell.com/techcenter/sdb/en/2004/09/tami_sles9_bonding_setup.html. This should be all that is necessary in most circumstances.

If you experience a problem with the network devices not being initialized properly after a server restart, the NIC driver may not be loading automatically when bond0 is being initialized. To resolve this problem, follow these instructions:
  • Edit /etc/sysconfig/kernel
  • Set the parameter MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT to the driver(s) which are needed by the bonding slaves.

    For Broadcomm 5700 cards, use bcm5700 or tg3 as in the following example:
    MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT="bcm5700"
    or
    MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT="tg3"
  • Reboot the machine and everything should now work properly.

Additional Information

Formerly known as TID# 10095562